


One of My Many Scars

by greyraven



Series: The Musketeers Gym [2]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 01:52:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6636169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyraven/pseuds/greyraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>D'Artagnan goes out with his co-workers on a Friday night, which leads to a secret being revealed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One of My Many Scars

**Author's Note:**

> Hello ! This is the second part of my Modern Universe. I still have more ideas, so I will definitely be writing more stories in the future :)

Athos had been observing d'Artagnan's class for the past fifteen minutes. The younger man had seen him but had barely spared him a glance before returning to his students. He had heard from Anne and Constance that he was a very good teacher, and he had wanted to see for himself. It had been a week since his arrival, and so far he had showed no sign of turning out like Rochefort. He probably wouldn't either, but Athos did not trust people easily. Even when he did, there was always this small voice at the back of his head, saying _“what if they're not who they seem...”_ but he had learned to shut it off. Most of the time.

Porthos came up next to him and they stood there for another minute without a word.

“Thoughts ?” Porthos finally asked.

“I do agree with Constance and Anne, he's definitely a good teacher. He explains well and always notices when someone gets it wrong and helps them. As far as I've seen, he is always active as well, and not a statue like a certain someone we knew. That motivates people. He clearly loves what he's doing.”

“And he's got a way with people too, they love him.” his friend added.

 _How could they not, with a smile as bright and genuine as his?_ Athos frowned in thought. No, this was simply an observation, people loved others who smiled. This had absolutely nothing to do with Athos's own perception of d'Artagnan.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” Athos said, with a little smirk, visible enough for his friend to know what he meant.

“Me ? But your people skills are perfect, what on earth could I possible be saying ?”

Athos shot him a look and Porthos let out a laugh.

“Hiring him was a good decision I think.” Athos finally concluded.

“The others think so as well. He gets along with everyone so far.”

“Good.” Athos nodded at him. “I need to get the room ready for the next class, I'll see you later.”

 

\--

 

Constance was waiting for d'Artagnan outside his room at the end of the day. The boxing teacher was sweating after his last lesson, and his hair had escaped his quick ponytail : working with a high-ability group was demanding, but also very rewarding.

“Hey, you're doing anything tonight?” Constance asked.

“No, I have no plans why?”

“The rest of us are going out to a bar not far from here, and everyone was wondering if you wanted to join us.”

It had been a while since he'd gone out with friends. Most times he had gone out in Paris, it was with people he'd met on one of his jobs, but it had never been anything like going out with good friends. He was sure he had not seen those people more than twice. Now however, after only one week, he felt as if this was going somewhere. With some time, these people could become very good friends. After the initial meeting, while still being slightly wary for another couple days, they had been very supportive.

D'Artagnan was finding some stability in his life, and while he liked adventure, he had also grown up surrounded by people who always had his back. He appreciated the importance of a good support system.

“Sure!”

“Alright then,” she messed with his hair which were currently falling in his face, “go grab a shower, and once we're all ready, we'll head out.”

“Catch you in a minute!” he said and went straight for the staff shower rooms.

 

\--

 

They met in the break room. D'Artagnan was the last one to arrive, and he could see Aramis showing a video to Anne, who was smiling brightly, even more brightly than usual. She tended to be like this around Aramis, d'Artagnan had noticed. They were adorable, not that he would ever express this opinion out loud. He had quickly seen how the others noticed as well, but no one said a word about it, and so he wouldn't either. Porthos and Constance saw him enter and dropped whatever conversation they were having.

“Alright, we're all ready !” Constance announced.

Aramis put his phone back in his pocket and Anne got her coat and Constance's, which she handed to her friend. For a second, d'Artagnan stood, confused.

“We're not all ready. We're missing ...” he started.

“We tried inviting Louis several times, but the man cannot get out of here fast enough on friday nights. If it was up to him, he'd leave the reception at noon.” Aramis said.

“I'm not talking about Louis, Aramis. I just saw Athos in his room. We should wait for him.”

They all looked at each other. And there he was again, outside a silent conversation. Anne finally said something after a few seconds.

“Athos never comes with us on evenings when we go to the bar.”

D'Artagnan raised his eyebrows at her.

“Trust me,” she continued, “he knows we are going out. It's not some kind of big secret we keep from him. He comes with us for meals and other stuff, just not bar nights.”

Still, d'Artagnan felt strange leaving Athos behind. Weren't they supposed to be a big family ? This didn't feel right. And no, it was not because he had, _maybe_ , developed a crush on the older man. It was because in the week he had been there, he had had the impression they were all an inseparable group of friends. Right now however, they were just leaving one of them behind without question. Aramis saw his internal struggle, and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He guided him towards the door.

“Don't worry about it. We're not being vague just to keep you out of the loop. It's simply not our story to tell.”

D'Artagnan conceded and followed them in the cold Paris night.

 

\--

 

Porthos handed his third beer to d'Artagnan, who accepted it gladly. Constance came back a few seconds after Porthos with hers, and a third glass of wine for Anne. Aramis was on his second vodka, and the evening was going well. They were an easy bunch of people to get along with, once you got past the layers of protection they all wrapped around each other. In his two months in Paris, d'Artagnan had not spend such a good night out, and it was not even over yet.

“So, d'Artagnan, how did you end up in Paris ?” Constance asked.

“I wish I could say it was a long story, but it's really not.” he started. “I've always lived in Gascony with my family, and worked on the farm with my dad and I liked it well enough. But I felt like I wasn't going anywhere. I wanted to see more, so two months ago I packed my stuff, took a train and moved to Paris.”

“That took some guts, right there!” Aramis toasted to him.

“Or as my siblings would say, craziness!”

“Sometimes, a bit of craziness doesn't hurt.” Constance smiled at him. “Looks like you're doing just fine to me!”

“Constance, please, could you go say that to my banker who's currently losing all of his hair because of the state of my finances ?”

“I'll make sure to give him a call tomorrow.” she assured him.

They all laughed and took a drink from their glasses.

“What about all of you ?” d'Artagnan asked.

Porthos and Aramis looked at each other, and Aramis gave the pleasure of explaining their story to d'Artagnan to his friend.

“Aramis and I met at university. We studied sports in Paris. In our second year, we decided to take a flat together, because, well you've experienced Paris's prices.”

“Come on Porthos. That's not how it happened.” Aramis cut in. “See, Porthos showed up to my dorm room one evening at the end of the first year. Poor bloke was terrified we would somehow be split up the next year. I'm very difficult to live without, you see.”

The other three snorted and d'Artagnan supressed a laugh. Porthos patted Aramis on the shoulder.

“Whatever gives you beautiful dreams at night my friend. Anyway, we got to the end of our degree, neither of us wanted to continue to become teachers in school. Management isn't our thing either. So we settled for the thing that would give us the most freedom and let us stay in Paris.”

“We've been working at this gym for five years now. And there you go!” Aramis concluded by giving a small bow as best he could as he was sat down.

They all clapped vehemently with the biggest smiles on their faces. D'Artagnan loved how easily these people laughed and joked. They were human, they were not happy all the time but when they were they gave it their all. It made him miss his home, and his family. This reminded him of them, and the meals which lasted for hours on ends, the afternoons playing in the garden … He got a little bit of that back here, in this moment, even as he was miles away from them.

Then Anne started her story.

“I got here three years ago after a degree in literature.”

“How did you go from literature to yoga ?” d'Artagnan asked.

“I didn't go from one to the other.” she smiled. “I want to be a writer, but writing in your flat, in your pyjamas all day doesn't pay the bills. And I've always loved yoga, so I thought : why not ? I still write, but now I have money to buy food.”

“And alcohol. Man, Anne has the best taste in wine.” Constance added.

“I'm going to have to agree with that. She has excellent, but expensive taste.” Aramis winked at her.

“As for me,” Constance said, “I wanted to be a stunt double. It didn't work out, so I found a job as an aerial teacher at the gym not a month after Anne.”

It was easily noticed how Constance brushed over the fact she did not manage to become a stunt double, just as it was obvious she did it because she did not want to talk about the details of that event.

“So you've all worked together for years ?” d'Artagnan asked, more rhetorically than anything, and everyone nodded.

“And Athos was there before we were,” Aramis added. “Tréville as well. When Porthos and I started, Athos was doing more bootcamp style classes, and Tréville was taking care of the fencing. He left a couple years later when he got a job coaching an actual fencing team, and Athos took over. He was more than qualified and he couldn't have left his other classes behind quick enough.”

“Thanks Aramis for making me think of Tréville, I am now painfully aware of the fact that I miss him.” Porthos rolled his eyes at his friend.

“Anything for you Porthos. Anything.”

 

After this conversation, more drinks were bought, more laughter resonated in the bar and less serious talks were heard until they all finally went home.

 

\--

 

The fact that d'Artagnan even managed to get out of bed in his state was a miracle in itself. How he somehow got to work before everyone else, that was something else entirely. He had his head on the table, arms falling on each side of his body. The break room was empty, and yet it was as if an entire orchestra had decided to play there on a Saturday morning. His head was pounding at the same rhythm as his heart. So when four people came in the room at the same time, it was as if a hammer had been dropped on his head. Repeatedly.

“Oh oh. Did somebody drink too much last night ?” Constance's voice sounded like she was yelling. She wasn't, but still.

D'Artagnan used all his strenght to raise his arm and flipped her off. That only made her laugh. Aramis touched his shoulder gently, to show his understanding and in a gesture of comfort.

“You'll feel better soon.” he whispered to him.

D'Artagnan simply moaned.

Then someone else came in the room.

“Oh oh.”S

D'Artagnan loved Athos's voice. He did. Just, maybe not that loud, with a hungover on a Saturday morning.

“Yeah, he went at it last night; didn't know when to stop. He's probably not used to working on saturday mornings after drinking.”

“You know I can hear you guys. Loudly too.” he said in a raspy voice.

“Ok, give me five minutes, and I'll have something for that hungover of yours.” Athos said, and d'Artagnan heard him preparing something in the small kitchen they had.

Five more minutes of darkness, and then he'd have to face the day. That'll have to do.

 

A glass found its way on the table, next to him. He took a deep breath and sat up in his chair. Athos was sitting next to him and pushed the glass closer to d'Artagnan.

“Drink up, that'll make you feel better.”

“Thanks.” d'Artagnan accepted the drink and downed it as fast as he could. He wasn't a newbie ; he knew most hungover remedies didn't have the best taste. But this one was …

“That one was disgusting.” he coughed.

“Maybe, but effective, trust me. You'll feel less like a zombie and more like a human in about half an hour. Even less, probably.”

“Been hungover much then?” he asked him. And his head exploded.

“D'ARTAGNAN!” four voices echoed around him.

He let his head fall back on the table and he covered his ears the best he could. Voices were still coming through though.

“Wait, none of you told him ?” He heard Athos ask.

“Athos, please. We're your friends.” That was Aramis.

“Could you please, please stop yelling?” d'Artagnan pleaded and he pressed his hands harder on his ears.

He felt Athos stand up, and never heard the rest of the conversation.

 

\--

 

On Saturdays, the gym closed at 4pm. D'Artagnan knew Athos's last fencing class ended at 3.30pm, so he made his way to his room around that time. He definitely had regained his senses since this morning and he had thought about the others yelling at him. They would not have if he had not said something bad to Athos, and he wanted to apologize to the other man, for whatever it was.

He knocked on the door, and went in to find Athos sitting on the floor, against the mirror.

“What is it ?” Athos asked him.

“I came to apologize for this morning. Whatever I said, if it offended you or anything, I am really sorry.”

Athos looked at him with surprise. “You don't need to apologize.”

“Yes I do.” d'Artagnan sat on the floor, facing the other man. “I've grown up in a housefold of nine people. If you don't apologize for your mistakes, whether they're an accident or not, the atmosphere turns to shit. I don't want that to happen here.”

Athos studied him for a moment. He had not expected this. For him, the morning “incident” was long-forgotten ; he wouldn't have said anything if his friends had not reacted. D'Artagnan had no idea, and Athos did not blame him in the least. How the younger man came to apologize surprised him.

“Then I appreciate it. But I don't want you apologizing if you don't know why. It doesn't seem fair.”

“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”

He should stop there. Athos should just stop there, accept the apology and the assurance he did not have to say anything and move on. It was the best thing to do, rather than reveal something personal to someone he met a week ago. But then, it might happen again and he didn't want d'Artagnan to get yelled at without knowing why his friends were reacting that way. There would be other nights out, Saturday morning hungovers, so it was only logical for Athos to tell him. Yes, it was the more logical course of action. He was not going to reveal something big about himself, other people knew about it, even people he did not want to know. It was hardly his biggest secret, if anything about his life could still be considered a secret at this point. He'd just keep it short and simple.

“Let me.”

“If you're sure, alright.”

“I won't give you the details, but shit happened in my life a few years ago, before I started working here. Everything I knew was turned upside down. My reaction to that was … to become best friend with the bottle. I only got out of it a couple months ago. You can imagine sobriety isn't the easiest thing in the world, and the others are trying to avoid talking to me directly about alcohol. To help.”

“That's why when I asked you if you'd been …”

“They yelled. Yes.”

“And that's why you didn't come with us last night, and they acted like it was the most normal thing in the world.”

“I do tend to avoid being in the direct presence of bottles full of the thing I'm trying not to drink, yes.”

Athos could see d'Artagnan's brain processing the information.

“Then, I apologize again. I won't do it again, and if by accident I do, then they can yell at me all they want.”

Athos simply nodded with a small smile. He stood up and d'Artagnan followed.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“It's alright.”

D'Artagnan smiled and turned around to leave the room. As he left, Athos wondered if his beginning trust towards the other teacher was a mistake.

 


End file.
